Chinese word dictionary

盖棺论定

gài guān lùn dìng · don't pass judgment on a person's life until the lid is on the coffin (idiom)

Practice word

Word information

Simplified盖棺论定

Traditional蓋棺論定

Pinyingài guān lùn dìng

Part of speechDictionary

HSK 3.0Not listed

HSK 2.0Not listed

Character breakdown

Study each Hanzi separately, then return to the complete word so pronunciation, meaning, and movement stay connected.

盖gài

to cover, to hide, to protect

棺guān

coffin

论lùn

debate; discussion

定dìng

to decide, to fix, to settle; to order; definite, fixed, sure

How to learn 盖棺论定

Listen once without reading, repeat the pinyin with its tones, then write every character in sequence. Finally, recall the complete meaning instead of memorizing each character as an isolated translation.

When the word appears in a sentence, check whether its part of speech and meaning match the definition shown here. Chinese words can change nuance with context.

Related vocabulary

Words with the same characters

Compare how a familiar Hanzi changes meaning inside another word.

决定juédìng

to decide (to do something); to resolve; decision; CL:個|个[ge4],項|项[xiang4]; certainly

一定yídìng

surely; certainly; necessarily; fixed; a certain (extent etc); given; particular; must

不论búlùn

whatever; no matter what (who, how etc); regardless of; not to discuss

定dìng

to fix; to set; to make definite; to subscribe to (a newspaper etc); to book (tickets etc); to order (goods etc); to congeal; to coagulate; (literary) definitely

规定guīdìng

to stipulate; to specify; to prescribe; to fix (a price); to set (a quota); regulations; rules; provisions; stipulations

肯定kěndìng

to be certain; to be positive; assuredly; definitely; to give recognition; to affirm; affirmative (answer)